welcome

This package is currently designed for parents and carers of young people (aged up to 25) in Scotland who have recently received a diagnosis of an eating disorder and are aboutto or have just started treatment.As a parent or carer, the most important thing to remember is that your loved one having an eating disorder is not your fault. It is no ones fault.

This package is not designed to be an independent treatment model nor is it in place of professional advice. It is designed to complement existing evidence based treatments provided by specialist eating disorder services and provide additional support for you on your journey. Please consult your clinician if you have any concerns or need further advice.

For use of the word ‘parents’ please understand that this word refers to parents, family members and carers. It makes for easier reading to just use the one word, however, so after the first mention, parents will be used on its own.

Clinicians are aware just how distressing it is for parents or carers to receive a diagnosis of an eating disorder for their loved one. For most parents, they are in a state of shock when they receive this news, and you are likely to be feeling the same. It is important that you give yourself some time to come to terms with the diagnosis, but equally, we know that having parents engaged and involved in the care of their loved one is invaluable. It is important for you to understand that the causes of eating disorders are complex. So if you can accept this, rather than holding on to a feeling of guilt that it has been caused by something you have done wrong or if there was something you could have done differently it will leave you free to focus on the future and how best to help your loved one from now on.

This resource has been created to give parents up-to-date knowledge about these illnesses, as well as providing opportunities for skills development. Parenting or caring for a loved one with an eating disorder is a demanding and frustrating task and places enormous strain on everyone in the family. Learning how to respond and support your loved one with effective strategies will give you the confidence and skills to encourage your loved one through this highly distressing time and to support recovery. Recovery times vary for every individual but this can be a long process. The more common recovery path for younger adolescents requires as long as five or more years to achieve. However, although it may take this long, it will get easier and gradually become less “all consuming” as it is right now. The main thing to bear in mind is that recovery is possible and we see this happening frequently. Parent and carer resilience are important in this process, as your expression of confidence and optimism in that recovery can play a significant part, which is why we hope that you will make good use of the resource we have created.

This package has been designed for parents and carers, with parents and cares and young people with lived experience of an eating disorder as well as clinicians, so that they have a deeper understanding of what is happening with their loved one, while they are being treated for their illness.

BMI – Body Mass Index: BMI is a value that comes from the weight and height of a person. It is an attempt to measure how much mass (fat, muscle, bone) is in a person which then determines if they are underweight, overweight, obese or normal weight based on the number. It is not widely used in young people under 18.

YPU/IPU – Young people’s unit or inpatient unit.

CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy / Eating Disorder Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Structured treatment which a set amount of session focusing on the way a person processes thoughts and feelings. It aims to support a person to deal with overwhelming feelings and problems by breaking down into small parts and helps stop a person getting stuck in a “negative thinking” cycle.

CBT-ED – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy eating disorder : Structured treatment specially for eating disorders which a set amount of session focusing on the way a person processes thoughts and feelings with the focused on eating disorder behaviours. It aims to support a person to deal with overwhelming feelings and problems by breaking down into small parts and helps stop a person getting stuck in a “negative thinking” cycle.

FBT – Family Based Treatment: a structured treatment approach involving the whole family. It is one of the recommended treatments for anorexia and bulimia. This is the recommended first choice of treatment for children and adolescents.

IPT – Interpersonal Therapy: This approach focuses on a person’s relationships with other people and the impact this has on their eating pattern.

MANTRA – Maudsley Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults: a treatment for adults with anorexia. The treatment involves a person working through a workbook with a practitioner with a focus on motivation, separating anorexia from identity and involved family member /carers to understand treating disorder and support the person to change the eating disorder behaviour. This is a recommended treatment for adults with anorexia

Binge eating – To eat a high amount of food in one.

Maudsley – “Maudsley” may refer to the Maudlsey Hospital in South London. The hospital is the largest mental health training institute in the UK. Many eating disorder specialists are attached to the hospital.
The “Maudsley Approach” is Family Based Treatment.
The “New Maudlsey Approach” – is a collaborative carer approach developed by Janet Treasure and Colleagues.

The Matrix – Is a guide aimed at psychologists in Scotland that supports them to deliver evidence based psychological therapies.

Purging – this is something that is often done after a binge. A person can “purge” themselves through: self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas.

Recovery – a clinician may talk about your loved one being in recovery –they are aiming for the young person to maintain a normal weight range with minimal eating disorder thoughts and behaviours . Recovery to you and your loved one may mean more than just this.

SSCM – Specialist Supportive Clinical Management: a treatment for adults to assess identify and review key issues and problems. This is a recommended treatment for adults with eating disorders.

W4h – Weight for Height; this is a measure used by clinicians in child and adolescent mental health services. It works out more accurately what a person’s expected weight/weight range should be. This is a measure only used in young people under the age of 18.